Student Study Guide
Chapter 16
Taking It by Force
Section 1 — Taking It by Force
Section One
To experience the full power of the sword of the Spirit (Ch. 13), tongues (Ch. 14), and high praise (Ch. 15), you must become a person who lays hold of the promises of God. The AMPC renders Matthew 11:12: violent men seize the kingdom "as a precious prize - a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion." This holy violence is not self-willed striving or emotional ranting - it is wholehearted pressing into what the Father has already willed.
One of the enemy's deepest lies is that intensity in prayer is less spiritual than passivity - that pressing in hard is presumptuous, and the truly spiritual person simply waits quietly. But Hebrews 11:6 says God "is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." The word "diligently" is not casual interest; it is earnest, intense, wholehearted pursuit.
God pays out His reward to those who come after Him with everything they have.
This chapter does not add a fourth weapon to the sword (Ch. 13), tongues (Ch. 14), and high praise (Ch. 15). It reveals the intensity with which all three must be wielded. Watch for how "taking it by force" changes the way you use everything you have already learned.
Think It Through
Have you ever been taught, directly or indirectly, that intensity in prayer is less mature or less spiritual than calm passivity? Where did that idea come from?
Your Thoughts
The AMPC says the kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense .
Hebrews 11:6 says God is a of those who diligently seek Him.
The word "diligently" is not casual interest; it is earnest, intense, wholehearted .
Section 2 — The Gethsemane Pattern
Section Two
Remember From Section 1
One of the enemy's deepest lies is that intensity in prayer is less than passivity.
After the Upper Room discourse ended, Jesus did not go to bed - He went to Gethsemane. The Greek word for His "agony" is agonia, describing maximum, concentrated spiritual exertion, like an athlete's final decisive push. "More earnestly" translates ektenos: stretched out, extended to the maximum, without holding back.
Hematidrosis, the medical phenomenon of blood mixing with sweat under extreme pressure, describes what happened to Jesus' body under that strain. This is not a picture of serenity - it is holy violence directed toward heaven, "with vehement cries and tears" (Heb. 5:7), the same Jesus who taught the Upper Room now pressing through agony until the Father's will was sealed.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
The Greek word for Jesus' "agony" is agonia, describing maximum concentrated spiritual .
"More earnestly" translates ektenos, meaning stretched out, extended to the .
Jesus offered up prayers "with vehement and tears." (Heb. 5:7)
Reflection
Jesus modeled agonized, intense prayer at the most critical moment of His life. When was the last time you prayed with that level of intensity?
Your Thoughts
Section 3 — Three Witnesses: The Neck and the Crushed Back
Section Three
Remember From Section 2
Hematidrosis describes blood mixing with sweat under extreme physical and emotional .
Only nine weeks saved, Steve watched a prayer group at a youth camp pray a tentative, conditional prayer over a girl's swollen, immobile neck, quietly planning for failure. Something rose up in him. He said, "Move aside!" and commanded her neck healed in Jesus' name. The swelling went down under his hand and she was completely healed.
Months later at a restaurant in Modesto, a young man with a crushed, broken back from a warehouse accident asked for prayer. When the group's prayer went the same tentative direction, Steve again said, "Move out of the way!" and commanded his back healed. The young man's pain vanished, and right there in the restaurant he was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues for the first time, at full volume, while the group's own pastors quietly relocated to a far corner.
"Sometimes you have to get the doubt and unbelief out of the room before you can get the healing in." Jesus did the same thing at Jairus's house, putting the unbelieving mourners out before raising the girl (Mark 5:40).
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
At nine weeks saved, Steve said "Move !" before praying for the girl's neck.
The young man at the restaurant had a crushed and broken from a warehouse accident.
The young man had never spoken in before that night.
Reflection
Steve says he achieved these healings not through superior faith but because he "had not yet learned to be afraid of asking for too much." Has sophisticated theology or experience ever made you more timid in prayer rather than bolder?
My Thoughts
Section 4 — Three Bolts of Lightning, and the Pattern in Scripture
Section Four
Remember From Section 3
Jesus put the unbelieving mourners out of the room before raising Jairus's . (Mark 5:40)
In January 1990, under Dr. Morris Cerullo's ministry, Steve refused to be a spectator: "God, if nobody else in this place gets it, I am going to get this tonight... I am not letting You go until You give it to me." Three successive bolts of power hit him, each stronger, until the third dropped him to the ground shaking. He traces the anointing on his entire ministry back to that one decision not to let go.
This pattern runs throughout Scripture. Jacob wrestled the angel all night, refusing to release him: "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" (Gen. 32:26) - and his name changed to Israel. Jesus' parable of the midnight friend teaches that shameless persistence, not friendship, moves heaven (Luke 11:5-10): "Ask and keep on asking... seek and keep on seeking... knock and keep on knocking" (Luke 11:9, AMPC).
The woman with the issue of blood pressed through a crushing crowd for twelve years of desperation - hundreds were close to Jesus, but only she pressed through to a miracle. The difference was not proximity. It was intention.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Jacob said to the angel, "I will not let You go unless You me!" (Gen. 32:26)
Jesus said, "Ask and keep on asking... seek and keep on seeking... knock and keep on ." (Luke 11:9)
The woman with the issue of blood had been bleeding for years.
Reflection
"Hundreds of people in that crowd were pressing against Jesus. Only one pressed through to a miracle." What is the difference between being near a move of God and actually pressing into it?
Your Thoughts
Section 5 — Spectators, Participants, and Generators
Section Five
Remember From Section 4
With the woman with the issue of blood, the difference was not proximity - it was .
After forty years of ministry, Steve identifies three categories: spectators (present, impressed, but doing nothing), participants (who engage once the atmosphere is already charged, dependent on conditions), and generators (who press in regardless of conditions, refusing to accept the atmosphere as fixed). Generators are the reason breakthroughs happen in a room.
David, hiding in the cave of Adullam surrounded by four hundred broken men, became a generator there. The Hebrew word for "sought," darash, means to seek diligently, to pursue with persistence, to beat a path to someone's door until they respond. David darash'd the Lord, and his internal breakthrough came first - then the four hundred distressed men around him became his mighty men, not through training, but because their leader had learned to storm heaven.
Recall Check
Fill in these from what you just read above, using your own memory.
Generators refuse to accept the atmosphere in a room as fixed and .
The Hebrew word darash means to seek .
David's breakthrough came before his circumstances changed.
Reflection
Honestly, which of the three categories - spectator, participant, or generator - best describes you right now? What would it take to move toward being a generator?
My Thoughts
Section 6 — Seeking With All Your Heart
Section Six
Remember From Section 5
David's mighty men did not produce David's breakthrough; David's breakthrough produced the .
The promise is absolute: seek with all your heart - not a percentage, not leftover energy - and you will find Him. The greatest lie keeping believers from breakthrough is not atheism but passivity dressed as contentment: the idea that where you currently are spiritually is probably sufficient. Everything this book has described about the D.E.E.P. anointing was given in the Upper Room; then Jesus went to Gethsemane and modeled what the full expression of it looks like in practice - sweating blood, praying with loud cries, pressing through until "Not My will but Yours be done" was settled (Luke 22:42).
This book is nearing its conclusion. As the D.E.E.P. anointing moves toward its final chapters, the identity of the end-time praying company - first hinted at in Chapter 13's mention of the two witnesses - will come into full focus. Keep pressing in; there is more still to be unveiled.
Reflection
"Are you a spectator, a participant, or a generator? ...take by force everything that Jesus purchased for you." Answer that question honestly for where you are today.
My Response
This Chapter in My Own Words
| What the Chapter Showed | In My Own Life |
|---|---|
| Jesus prayed with agonia and ektenos in Gethsemane, sweating blood | |
| A tentative, conditional prayer left room for doubt; a direct command released healing | |
| Steve refused to let go until he received everything God had for him | |
| The woman with the issue of blood pressed through the crowd with intention | |
| David became a generator in the cave before his circumstances ever changed | |
| God rewards those who seek Him with all their heart, not a percentage of it |
One More Table
| What It Looked Like | What Was Actually True |
|---|---|
| Waiting passively for breakthrough to trickle down when conditions feel right | The kingdom of heaven is taken by force, by those who press in with everything they have regardless of conditions. |
| Is there a specific breakthrough you have been praying about "politely" that you need to take by force instead? |
Personal Prayer Journal
Write a short prayer telling God you are not letting go until you receive everything He has purchased for you.
Chapter 16 — Practice Test
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Part A: Multiple Choice (5 questions · 2 pts each)
1. According to Matthew 11:12 (AMPC), how is the kingdom of heaven seized?
2. What does the Greek word agonia describe about Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane?
3. What was wrong with the group's original prayer for the girl's swollen neck, according to Steve?
4. What is the key difference between a "participant" and a "generator," according to the chapter?
5. What does the Hebrew word darash, used of David in the cave, mean?
Part B: True or False (6 statements · 1 pt each)
1. The chapter teaches that intensity in prayer is a sign of spiritual immaturity.
2. Jesus sweat "great drops of blood" in Gethsemane, a real documented medical phenomenon called hematidrosis.
3. The young man with the crushed back had never spoken in tongues before and was filled with the Holy Spirit at the restaurant.
4. David waited passively in the cave of Adullam for God to remember where he was.
5. The chapter describes only two categories of believers in prayer: spectators and generators, with no middle category.
6. Jeremiah 29:13 promises that seeking God with all your heart guarantees you will find Him.
Part C: Fill in the Blank (5 items · 1 pt each)
1. "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by ." (Matt. 11:12)
2. Ektenos means stretched out, extended to the .
3. At the 1990 meeting, Steve said, "If nobody else lays hold of it, I am laying hold of ."
4. Jacob said to the angel, "I will not let You go unless You me!" (Gen. 32:26)
5. The Hebrew word darash means to seek .
Part D: Short Answer (completion credit)
1. Explain what happened in Gethsemane and why Steve calls it "the most powerful prayer in human history."
2. Explain the difference between spectators, participants, and generators, and identify what makes a generator.
3. Explain what happened to David in the cave of Adullam, and what happened to the men around him as a result.
Part E — Before You Leave
Honestly, are you currently more of a spectator, a participant, or a generator in your own prayer life? Why?
Is there a specific breakthrough you have been praying about "politely" that you need to take by force instead?
Write a short prayer telling God you are not letting go until you receive everything He has purchased for you.